Hallam Sinfonia’s Tom Davies gives his thoughts on how Ligeti’s Atmosphères brings a unique contribution to this week’s programme.
Our next concert is called Elemental Forces and Ligeti’s Atmosphères certainly fits the bill; evoking both the massive chaotic atmospheric forces around us, as well as its amazing stillness. Possibly this range, as well as the music’s other-worldness, appealed to Stanley Kubrick when he heard it accompanying an early cut of his 2001: A Space Odyssey - for which this music is most widely known
As a music teacher I talk about the Elements every day, and encouraging pupils to peel back the elements of music, I hope, helps them to better understand the music they enjoy (If you’ve forgotten your Y7 music lessons then the elements of music might be Melody, Harmony, Dynamics, Articulation, Rhythm, Metre, Texture, Tonality, Timbre - that sort of thing.) And pretty much all music has all of them in some combination. In the 1960s composers like Ligeti started to turn to electronics to stretch the limits of those elements, rather than feeling constrained by the sounds produced by classical instruments.
But Atmosphères is for a large symphony orchestra; why did Ligeti come back to it, and why do we come back to it? What elements does a symphony orchestra provide to us that keeps us coming back? Is it Melody? Classical music has great melodies for sure but you’d hear more great melodies per hour seeing the Sheffield Beatles Project play the White Album this December, for example. Harmony then? Again, classical music has interesting harmony but you’d likely be better served by Jazz at the Lescar for that. Obviously we listen for combinations of all the elements and I’d argue that what the symphony orchestra does better than anything, and what brought Ligeti back from his electronic music experiments, is its ability to create timbres, textures, and ranges of dynamics that little else can.
In Ligeti’s Atmosphères you will hear a composer stripping away Melody, Rhythm, Harmony, Metre, Articulation and all the others. And giving a masterclass in what can be achieved with Dynamics (i.e. volume) and Timbre (the quality of sound) alone. If that sounds inhuman, or even robotic, then it’s also worth reflecting that those are also the qualities of music in the atmosphere itself. So enjoy braving these elements on 19th October!
The performance takes place at 7.30pm at High Storrs school, Sheffield, on Saturday 19 October. Book your tickets here!
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